8 DIY Wedding Makeup Tips You Need to Know

Wedding season is approaching, in all of its deeply romantic glory, along with every bride’s homestretch search for fresh, photogenic makeup that won’t stir feelings of regret in the years to come (contour with care, ladies). If you don’t plan on using a professional makeup artist or are traveling to a destination where you’d rather rely on your own skills than entrust a stranger who may not share your sensibility (or taste level) for your most important look, having a seasoned pro walk you through exactly the products to find and steps to take is a great plan of attack.

For this, we called up makeup artist Daniel Martin—whose clients include Saoirse Ronan, Olivia Palermo, and Jessica Alba—for his tips on mastering your close-up on the big day. Think quality brushes; wax-on, wax-off foundation applications; and emergency rosewater mists. Once you’ve got the steps on lockdown, try a trial run at least a few weeks before the wedding, enlisting a camera-savvy friend to snap a few photos in different lighting, and fine-tune your final look to prevent any day-of missteps.